Focus area – where shall dams be removed?

Our campaign focus lies on the Alpine and the Balkan regions, since the highest number of dams are located in the Alps and we have the best set of data for these regions at our disposal. Furthermore, we have an extensive network of local experts and river organization in these two regions. These favorable conditions will benefit our campaign and, by extension, the local initiatives which we will help to get rid of their obsolete dams. However, we are also open to include dams in other areas, especially if their removal generates great benefits for the river´s ecosystem.

The following map from the WWF and BOKU (University of Life Science, Vienna) study 2014 "Save the Alpine Rivers", is displaying the high density of hydropower plants and other barriers existing in the Alpine region. It can be seen that all Alpine rivers, besides a few exceptions, are disrupted by hydropower plants and other barriers such as weirs and artificial sills.